Military School
by Mufasa Lives On
Summary: When Alex is sent to an SAS run school, he finds trouble at every corner. ON HIATUS - REWRITTEN AS DARKS ACADEMY
1. The Bus Trip

**Author's note: Tell me if you like this story. Just excuse the sarcasm and extreme craziness.**

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Chapter 1

Alex Rider was going to boarding school. Yes, boarding school: B-O-A-R-D-I-N-G S-C-H-O-O-L. You read correctly, boarding school. Moving on...

Alex Rider was going to boarding school and he didn't like it one bit. He didn't like the fact that Jack had been kicked out of the country. He didn't like the fact he was being sent away.

He didn't like the fact it was an SAS-run boarding school, either.

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A small bus stopped outside the house to pick up Alex. It was pure white, small and it had a blue logo saying 'The Future Is Held in Education'. Alex guessed it had something to do with the government.

Alex took a deep breath and looked back at the house. He would miss it terribly. He would miss Jack even more. He sighed one last time before walking towards the bus.

Alex hopped on and a man standing next to the bus driver asked him for his name. Alex sat right at the front, avoiding the rest of the boys. There were about six of them already. There were only a few spots left and the boys looked menacing and dangerous – away from them was the best option.

The bus took a turn towards the main road and they continued until they reached the richer suburbs.

At a particularly rich-looking house (mansion more like it), the bus stopped.

A boy about Alex's height literally jumped on and took a seat behind Alex (high-fived the man Alex had talked to earlier), even though there were spare seats left.

'Hi, I'm Spencer, you can call me Spence. You're new.'

Spence had dark brown hair, brown eyes and was quite lanky. He had horribly thick eyebrows, though.

'Hi, I'm Alex.' Alex and Spence shook hands just as the bus accelerated dangerously.

Alex and Spence small-talked until the bus reached the top of a hill. If Spence's house was a mansion, this place was a castle.

There seemed to be a family brawl going on in the front yard. BMWs and Porches were parked everywhere and about six people were on the front lawn.

A man in an expensive-looking business suit and a woman in a designer dress were yelling at each other. The woman kept turning around and screaming at two scared looking people behind her.

Behind the suited man, a man in smart casual clothing and a younger girl wearing jeans, a tank top and a vest were standing side-by-side, leaning against one another. Alex could see the man quite clearly, but he couldn't see the girl's front. The only view he had was her long brown hair.

The man next to the bus driver stepped out of the bus and cautiously approached the fighting people. The boys in the bus quickly opened the windows and rushed to the right side which was closer to the house.

_What a bunch of nosey people_ – Alex thought, even though he was curious too.

'Miss, the judge said that neither parent could have custody. You need to let her go,' one of the scared people behind the woman said.

The woman turned around slowly, a dangerous look on her face. She raised her eyebrows and the two scared people became terrified.

'You're fired!' she yelled, pointing at them. To Alex's surprise, they looked quite relieved to be going. From this, Alex deduced that the woman was quite powerful and harsh.

The man in the expensive business suit turned to face the two casually dressed witnesses. 'Sir,' he said addressing the man.

_Sir?_ – thought Alex. _I thought _he_ was the one in charge._ Alex was quite interested now and didn't realise he was joining the nosey ones.

'Sir, do you understand that your daughter can't be left in your care?' he asked the man politely. He seemed to enjoy working for him – unlike the other two and the woman.

The man sighed and looked towards the girl that must have been his daughter. He didn't answer because at that moment, another suit clad man with grey hair showed up in a Lamborghini.

He jumped out of his car and walked over to the small congregation of people. The man who had previously been standing next to the bus driver was shifting his weight from one leg to the other.

'Your Honour, we have had a bit of a disagreement,' the first man in the suit said, inclining his head towards the grey-haired man.

'Ah, Harold, I think I know how to fix it.' The grey-haired man pulled a few pieces of paper out of his jacket pocket and looked towards the man from the bus. 'Would you happen to have a pen?'

'Y-yes, I-I do,' the man stuttered and walked back towards the bus. 'Here,' he said giving the grey-headed man a pen.

The grey-haired man signed in a few places and then held the pieces of paper up.

'Miss Stefarni Gregoreya, you have signed your name here, stating that you agree for your daughter, Miss Temperance Gregoreya-Romae, to be cared for by a neutral party. You also agreed that the chosen school will suffice.'

'_Isn't Gregoreya that famous model?'_ a boy whispered at the back of the bus. _'She married what's-his-face...he's Greek...'_

'Mr Shia Romae, you have signed your name here, stating that you agree for your daughter, Miss Temperance Gegoreya-Romae, to be cared for by a neutral party. You also agreed that the chosen school will suffice.'

'_It's that Greek person...they had a _child..._?'_

Here, the grey-haired man turned towards the man from the bus. 'You need to sign here, agreeing to house this adolescent.'

After the paper was signed, the grey-haired man said, 'OK, now Miss Gregoreya and Mr Romae, you need to say goodbye to your daughter and then she will need to follow this good man onto the bus.'

The man from the bus blushed and smiled weekly. He obviously liked being called 'good'.

The woman walked – stalked, really – over to the girl and gave her a tight hug. It wasn't warm or loving but really cold. It gave Alex the feeling that the woman didn't really care.

When the woman had let go, the man picked up his daughter and gave her a huge hug, spinning her around. The girl hugged him back, equally as loving.

The man appeared to whisper something to the girl and she nodded her head in response. He let her down, kissed her on the head and waved as she walked away.

The man in the expensive business suit handed her a single bag of luggage and she smiled at him.

When she walked towards the bus, Alex got a good look of her.

She was quite short and that would have made her look young if it wasn't for her face that showed sophistication. Her eyes were the brightest green Alex had ever seen.

The man from the bus helped her onto the bus and she sat on a seat opposite Alex and waved to her father. He gave a goofy smile back as the bus drove away.

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Five hours later, they arrived at a small place in the country. It was made of wood and brick. It was surrounded by trees and little paths leading of in all directions. It reminded Alex of a place he had gone to camp once. But this place held a weird feeling about it; the sense that things were going to change.

Everyone piled out of the bus and gathered in a small group. The bus driver drove off and the man who was next to him climbed onto a tree stump and began talking to them.

'Gentleman and lady, welcome back or, for two of you, welcome. You will be staying in the cabin over there, toilets are located next to it, the hall over there is for meals and meetings are held here. I'd like to introduce you to our new Captains.' The man pointed to a group of four people Alex had dreaded seeing again.

Wolf, Eagle, Snake and Fox.

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**Author's Note: Review so I know if I should continue.**


	2. Hawk

**Author's Note: If you're reading this, congratulations!**

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Chapter 2

_Wolf, Eagle, Snake and Fox._

Alex's stomach dropped. He felt as if his insides were being twisted around. Wolf was staring right at him and Eagle was joining him. Snake and Fox were looking at the girl, eyebrows raised.

'Got a girl, have we?' Fox asked the.

'Yes, and everyone will need to rid of their prejudice and treat her equally. Now, everyone, go put your things away and come back out here for a quick meeting before we go on a tour. Things have moved people! Then we will have dinner, after that a quick game of spotlight when it's dark, then off to bed. Move!'

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Alex was the first one to reach the cabin. He wanted to put as much space between him and Wolf as possible. He threw his bags on the furthest bed from the door and quickly changed his shirt.

Spence took a bed across from Alex as the others started to fill. Temperance was the last to come in so she unceremoniously chucked her stuff on the bed next to Alex's – the last one left.

Her luggage was surprisingly less than some of the other boys – even if it was probably all pink. She pulled out her (pink) pyjamas and shoved them under her pillow before slipping something into her pocket that Alex couldn't see. She then threw her stuff under her bed and walked out, leaving Alex wondering what she had in her pocket. He realised that she was probably annoyed at having to share a room.

Back outside where they first grouped, everyone was standing together chatting – except for Temperance, who was standing by herself. Alex, in an attempted to avoid Wolf, stood next to he, Spence following suit.

'Hi, my name's Spencer, call me Spence, this is Alex, call him Doodlecake' Spence announced to Temperance.

Temperance raised her eyebrows, shook Spence's hand, saying, 'Hi, Spence', before she offered her hand to Alex. 'I'm just going to call you Alex,' she said.

'Please do,' Alex replied, noticing her manicure.

_She's probably filthy rich. She's most likely used to having maids fawn over her. I hope she finally realises how the rest of us live,_ thought Alex.

'People, up here, listening to me; I'm going to formally introduce you to your leaders. You will call me Mr Mills or sir.

'This is Wolf.' Wolf took a step forward, dark look on his face.

'Eagle.' Eagle stepped forward like Wolf, but he smiled.

'Snake.' Snake moved forward, smiled and waved.

'Fox.' Fox showed a goofy grin reminiscent of a cartoon character.

'And Hawk should be here any moment...ah, there he is.' Hawk turned up pulling on one of his boots, shirt not done up and hair hardly hidden beneath his beanie.

'Sorry, sir, I just woke up.' Hawk finished tying up his laces. He was moderately short, had brown hair spiking out of his beanie, bright blue eyes and bright white teeth.

'Well, next time, don't stay up so late...or early,' Mr Mills lectured. Hawk gave a cheeky smile, starting to do up his shirt.

'But Mills, it was my friends eighteenth, I _had_ to party all night. If I didn't I would have been disrespectful. Anyway, I turned up at least.' Mr Mills ignored him.

'I'm going to put you into groups; one leader to two teens. Ah...Fox, you have Max and Franklin; Snake with Timothy and Glen; Eagle will have Aaron and Flynn; Wolf, you've got Spencer and Mathew, which leaves Temperance and Alex with Hawk. Go to your group now and I will leave the leaders to tour wherever they want; dinner is in two hours at the hall.'

'Hello, hello. I'm Hawk, you know that. Who are you again?' Hawk asked Alex, fixing up his shirt after he realised it was on inside-out. He asked with a nice tone, as though he was sorry he had forgotten.

'I'm Alex,' Alex replied quietly, shaking his hand.

'And this must be Temperance, I'll call you Tempy, Temperance is too hard to remember this early in the day,' Hawk said, smiling at Temperance. 'Well, lets go, you're both new, heard that from Mills, we don't want to get lost in the dark.'

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'This is the fun part!'

Hawk, Alex and Temperance had been walking around for twenty minutes. They had passed the cabins, toilets, hall, tennis court and volleyball court. All of those were situated close together and they were now heading towards the obstacle courses.

Hawk had led them up a bush track and they had just reached a deep hole that had to be passed by crossing a log.

'You just walk right across, see?' Hawk had reached the other side. Alex followed, just a bit slower than Hawk. Temperance crossed it the quickest – she had more balance.

'Hey, Wolf,' came Hawk's sudden voice from behind Alex. 'Fancy seeing you here.'

'Fancy you awake at this hour. We just came from the obstacle courses; they've put in a huge new one. It has mud pits, walls, rope course, leap of faith, tunnels...all that crazy stuff. We're going to put the kids on it tomorrow, watch them squirm.

'Great idea. You met Alex and Tempy?' Alex stopped breathing.

'Cub I've seen before, Temperance I haven't. Nice to meet you,' Wolf said, shaking Temperance's hand.

'Cub, 'ay? Cool name, I was called Beaver before they started to call me Ant, then I was Hawk. C'mon, let's keep going.'

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**Author's Note: Review away people. I need to know what you think.**


	3. Needs

**Author's Note: Thank you for your interest people!**

**Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I do NOT own any character, book, movie or anything you can copy write you may recognise.**

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Alex was still on edge after Hawk, Temperance and he met up with Wolf.

They had since visited the new obstacle, which was so much more intimidating than Wolf had told them, the other obstacles, the area where unmentionable amounts of exercise was sure to happen and the firing range.

It was dinner now; everyone had changed into warmer clothes for it and the spotlight challenge coming up soon. The meal consisted of beans, peas, carrots, potato and some kind of meat substitute.

Everyone sat at the same table, Alex next to Hawk and Spence and opposite Aaron. Temperance was on the other side of Hawk and they were in very quiet conversation.

Alex was very aware of Wolf and his team staring at him and wanted to get out as quick as possible. No such luck.

'Hawk, Alex and Temperance have clean-up duty tonight. Everyone else has twenty minutes until we meet outside for spotlight.'

Great...

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'Leave her stuff alone guys!' Spence ordered.

They were back in the cabin and Temperance and Alex were still at dinner. Aaron and Flynn had stolen Temperance's bag and were through the process of rummaging through it.

'What's that?' Flynn asked.

'That would be a dairy...it's in Spanish or French or Irish or something...' Aaron said. 'Does anyone here know another language?' he asked.

'I know a bit of Greek,' one boy said. 'Um...it says something here about a secret...oh...no, something about not knowing a secret...I can't read anything else.'

_Good thing they couldn't read it_ – thought Spence.

'What are those?' asked Flynn, pointing to something.

'They look like pill bottles, probably for weight loss or something.' Aaron walked over to the window and emptied the contents out. 'She'll be fat and ugly now.' Everyone except Spence laughed.

'They might have been important,' he said, walking over to Aaron. Aaron grabbed the front of Spence's shirt and held him against the wall.

'Oi, outside now!' yelled Mr Mills from the door.

The pills were erased from Spence's mind.

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'Okay, Hawk's and Wolf's groups over here with Glen, Fox's and Eagle's groups with Max, Snake is in charge. I'm going to go plan tomorrow's activities, see you all tomorrow morning at around about dawn.'

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'Ahh...' came Glen's voice came through the bush. He was the _second_ out of Alex's group to be caught – Mathew was already hopeless. That left Alex, Temperance, Spence, Wolf and Hawk left in the game on Alex's side, Aaron, Flynn, Eagle, Max and Fox in the other.

The buzzer came from somewhere in the opposite direction – that meant they had to meet up again.

'We're going to take leaders out of the end of this game, seeing as though none of them have been eliminated,' Snake started, groans coming from the leaders.

'_Rough play now..._' Aaron whispered to Flynn.

'That leaves Alex, Spence and Temperance on one side, Aaron, Flynn and Max on the other. We have twenty minutes left until lights-out so hurry up,' Snake continued. 'Go!'

'Good luck!' Hawk called.

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Alex motioned for Spence to follow him. There had been a noise from behind a tree and Alex was sure it came from a human. He and Spence dropped down next to Temperance who was peering around the corner.

'I don't believe it...they are sending him out as bait!' Temperance whispered.

'I'll go around the corner and sacrifice myself, that way, I can get him and then we'll know where they are,' Spence whispered. Alex nodded and joined Temperance on the other side of the tree.

Spence jumped out, flashlight on Max. Two flashlights then focused on Spence, sending him out with Max.

Flynn came out looking triumphant, Aaron looking suspicious. Quickly, Alex and Temperance turned their flashlights on Flynn and Aaron, winning the game. Spence hi-fived them and stuck his middle finger up at Aaron.

'You cheat!' Flynn yelled, pointing at Alex.

'There was no cheating involved pea brain,' huffed Temperance. Flynn looked confused as if trying to find a loophole.

'Hold your mouth!' shouted Aaron. Temperance took a step towards him, kneeing him where it was no doubt going to hurt. He keeled away in pain.

When Aaron recovered, he threw himself at Temperance. At the last second she dodged him and instead, he went flying into Alex.

'Get off, dude. I don't roll that way,' Alex said, shoving him away. Temperance stifled a laugh and turned away – bad idea.

Aaron pushed Temperance and she flew into a tree, whacking her head quite badly. Aaron turned her around and held her against the tree. 'Did you just laugh at me?' he asked menacingly.

'Ah, yeah, I did,' she answered, calmly. 'Mind backing off, mate? People might think you're violent.' Alex could see a trickle of blood coming from the nasty cut on her head.

Aaron let out an angry yell and slapped her across the face.

'Watch it!' yelled Alex and Spence at the same time. They each grabbed one of Aaron's shoulders and pulled him back.

'He's got a horrible temper, that one,' Temperance said, not seeming to care about her bloodied-up face.

'What's going on here?' came a voice from behind them.

Alex turned around and saw Wolf and Mr Mills walking out of the bushes. They both looked at Aaron lying, stunned, on the floor and then to Temperance's cut.

'What happened?' asked Mr Mills, staring directly at Alex.

'Well-' Alex began.

'We surprised each other. It was a misunderstanding, that's all,' Temperance cut across him. 'Alex and I won though.'

'I don't think it was just a misunderstanding, but we will pretend it was for now. Congratulations, Alex and Temperance, for winning. You will get some kind of reward. Off to bed now, all of you!'

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'Cub, come here...please.' Oh no, Wolf was speaking to him.

Alex stopped and turned around. He looked up at Wolf and his stomach turned.

'I know it wasn't a misunderstanding, I saw the cut on Tempy's head. Do you want to tell me what it really was?' Wolf looked like he meant business.

'I think you should ask her,' he said quietly, looking down.

'The guys and I are sorry for the way we treated you when you had to train with us. We don't know why they wanted you to do it, and I don't think I want to know. They threw me into teaching, so I think from now on, I'm not going to bug you. But that doesn't mean we're friends, alright? Come on, we need to get back.'

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Everyone was in bed and most people were asleep – correction, _supposed_ to be asleep. Everyone in Alex's cabin was awake.

Aaron, Flynn and most of the other teenage boys were talking about girls; Alex and Spence were talking about soccer. While they were doing this, Temperance was rummaging through her bags.

'Where are they?' she asked herself, throwing yet another thing onto the floor. She was getting very frustrated.

'Where are what?' asked Aaron, smile on his face.

'My medication...' she mumbled whilst looking through the outer pockets of her bag. She stopped and turned around. 'Where did you put them?' she asked angrily.

'Oh, the weight-loss pills, we threw them out of the window,' Aaron answered patiently.

'Weight-loss? Do I look like I need to loose weight to you?' she asked seriously. Aaron looked her up and down and shrugged. 'Out the window?' she shrieked and ran over there.

She then ran to the door and around the walls.

'Ant infested...' she said when she got back, hands on her hips. 'I need those!' Her voice quivered and she looked distraught.

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**Author's Note: Oh dear! I think I just made a character have a need! Ackh!**

**Read (you no doubt have) and Review (you no doubt _will_). NOW!**

**Here is some vocab.:**

"**I don't roll that way, Alex said." – He isn't gay.**

"**Kneeing him where it was no doubt going to hurt" – Use your imaginations.**

"**Loophole" – A way around the rules.**


	4. Sleep Talking

**Author's Note: How was that guys? Huh? Huh? Good? Tell me!**

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Chapter Four

'You _need_ them?' asked Aaron uncomfortably, he seemed sorry now.

'That's usually why people take medication, idiot.' Temperance shoved her hand into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. Alex assumed that he had seen it before when she was unpacking. She placed it under her pillow and walked outside.

'I told you guys not to do that!' Spence yelled, surprising Alex.

'You knew about this all along?' asked Alex. He might not have liked Temperance, but he didn't agree with the way they had just treated her.

'Yeah, I saw them do it. I tried to stop them but Aaron's big head blocked my way.'

This statement caused a commotion. Aaron jumped on Spence, Spence fought back, Flynn egged them on, and Alex tried to stop them.

'Quit it!'

Wolf was at the door, in his pyjamas mind you, looking quite annoyed. He walked over to the fight which now held all but two boys and pulled them apart.

'All of you will receive punishment and you will go to bed, NOW!'

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Alex woke up in the middle of the night with his bed sheets twisted around him. He untwisted himself and propped his back up on the bed head.

Looking over to Spence's bed, he saw that Spence was flipped the other way around, his head where his feet should have been.

But Temperance wasn't in her bed.

Alex quietly got out of bed and crept over to the door. He opened it slowly and peered out.

Temperance was sitting next to Hawk on the veranda. They were talking quietly but Alex could make out some of the words because of the quietness of the camp.

'...I can't keep up the English accent.'

'You get used to it after a while, Temp.'

'Did you ever get used to life on the run?'

'Never...sometimes, I forget who I am.'

'Do the authorities know where you are?'

'I think so...'

Alex heard something creek behind him and he held his breath, waiting for Hawk and Temperance to turn around. Luckily, they didn't, but Temperance started standing up.

'I'll talk to you tomorrow, goodnight.'

Alex snuck away at high speed and jumped onto his bed. Temperance came in quietly and laid down on hers. She pulled her blankets over herself and turned around.

Alex fell asleep thinking about accents, life on the run and authorities.

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'Everyone, out of bed now!'

Temperance could have sworn that she had only gotten to sleep when she was woken up again. It didn't bug her too much because without her medication, she was an insomniac, meaning she didn't need rest.

But without her medication, she would bruise easily, be bad tempered and need more food. She had needed the medication for three years now since she had been diagnosed. Well, _not_ diagnosed. The doctors said that the only way they could tell what disease she had would be to examine the insides of her brain. Even then, they wouldn't be able to tell precisely. To do this examination, they needed to do an autopsy, meaning she needed to be dead already.

Temperance slowly dragged herself out of bed and into the line waiting for the bathroom. She took a quick shower, dried herself, got dressed and then handed over the bathroom to Spence who had just woken up.

Temperance was sure the sun had just risen and even more sure they were just about to go for a run. She was right.

'Up to the exercise oval where the leaders are waiting, do what they say, then back here for breakfast. We will start the day with the obstacle course, run a bit more, and then its canoeing until the sun sets.'

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**Author's Note: Sorry its so short and it took a while, but the next chapter will be out in one to two days. Review!!**


	5. Hungry

**Sorry it's a bit late and a bit (cough, cough) short!**

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Chapter Five

Spence was only concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. He had never realised how long it took to run to the exercise oval. One more corner until he was there. He was sure Alex was ahead of him and he could see Temperance's hair swishing in front of him. Swish, swish...

Spence could finally see Wolf and Hawk up ahead talking and Eagle standing close by. Everyone congregated in a circle, panting, and looked toward the leaders.

'Ok, we are going to follow Hawk now, so everyone, do what Hawk does,' Wolf announced, cheeky smile on his face. 'Lucky you, getting to do sit ups,' he chuckled at Hawk.

Hawk winked at him, smiled at everybody else and clapped his hands together.

Fifty start-jumps later, Hawk stopped star-jumping and began doing sit ups. Spence looked over to Temperance who was keeping up quite easily but looked annoyed.

After a little while, during push ups, Spence watched the sun slowly creep over the trees. It was a bright orange colour and looked more like a sunset.

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Temperance was thoroughly irritated. Her mood was getting worse, she was hungry, she was irritated and she was hungry. Did she mention she was annoyed? She could also feel a headache coming on.

Because of certain circumstances, the obstacle course was to be run after canoeing, which was happening an hour earlier. This meant the obstacle course was to be run after sunset with the huge lights shining down on them. Perfect.

Temperance made her way to lunch with a very hungry stomach. She sat down next to Spence and Aaron, who she wasn't entirely happy with. Hawk smiled at her from the other side of the table.

They were called up one at a time to get the food that was being served for lunch. Temperance put as much as she could have on her plate before sitting down again. She muttered a quick grace before shoving her mouth full of potato bake.

Hawk seemed amused that she was so hungry as he got up to get his own food. She smiled after him before piling carrots onto her spoon.

'Gee, your hungry today,' Spence pointed out as he came back from the kitchen. He sat down and started eating his own food slowly.

'I've got a surprise for you all!' Mr Mills called from the door.

Even the leaders looked worried, thinking about what he could possibly add to their schedule.

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**Author's Note: More will be coming and if it doesn't, I give you full permission to virtually kill me!**


	6. Identities

**Here is a chapter just for anony1010, who was the first to review for the last chapter! Snaps for him/her!**

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Chapter Six

'The surprise is...drum roll please: it's raining!'

What a disappointment! No one spoke.

'That was a joke...you can laugh. No, the real point to that was that we can't go canoeing because of the current in the river. Now, you all get a rest, a nap, if you'd like, then we can do the obstacle course in the mud. As a twist, you all have to do it chained to your team. Isn't that exciting?'

Everyone groaned.

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Alex dragged himself out of his chair, offered the rest of his food to Temperance who was eyeing it hungrily and headed towards the cabins. On the way, he stopped and looked towards the leaders cabins. All the leaders were supervising a game of basketball on the courts – it would be easy to sneak in.

Alex looked back to everyone else who were coming out of the dining hall and realised they were all heading towards the game of basketball – no one would see him.

Alex crept up to the cabin the leaders occupied and slipped through the door. He looked around for Hawk's space. He wanted to know what Temperance and Hawk were talking about and if they were dangerous. He was planning to find out more about Temperance later.

Hawk's bed wasn't hard to find; it was the one with the clothes spread out across it in a messy fashion. Alex swept over to it and looked around closer.

On the night stand was a picture of three people. Alex couldn't even start to recognise them because they were facing away from the camera. Alex wasn't skilled in the profession of identifying the backs of people.

Alex peered under Hawks bed and pulled out a bag. He pulled out a few layers of clothes until he reached some objects at the bottom.

Alex extracted a folder and opened it. Inside were records of people under the names of 'Neal Hardgrave', 'Jesse Markets', 'Alfie Peterson' and 'Jenson Bailey'. Either Hawk liked collecting identities, or he stole them.

Alex quickly shoved everything back as he heard footsteps coming his way. He dived under the bed as the door opened. The owner of the shoes that were now walking towards Alex opened a drawer and placed something inside. Alex held his breath as the shoes walked back out the door.

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**Author's Note: Yes, I know its short, but at least I got it up! The next chapter may take a while because I have to do the obstacle course.**

**Review and I may be enticed to type faster!**


	7. Families

**Author's Note: I have three assignments all due in three consecutive days and I haven't start any of them! I'm in deep trouble. You guys should be glad I value this story more (not really) than my grade.**

**By the way, in the last chapter, when Alex was looking at the photo, it was in black and white.**

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Chapter Seven

It rained. It rained more. Now it was quite wet. Too wet. At least this was what Temperance thought. She was in no mood to do an obstacle course, she was still hungry and the only good side was that she was full of energy. She wouldn't be sleeping much tonight.

She was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling, when she remembered something. She ran her hands under the pillow and pulled out a piece of paper. She unfolded it carefully and held it up.

It was a picture taken two years ago and it was in black and white. It had three people with their backs to the camera, overlooking a sunset. She looked at the person on the right, who was her, then to the person in the middle, her father, then lastly to the other person. This person she knew very well. He was older than her but a dear friend.

Temperance was distracted when Alex walked in the door. He was drenched in water and looked tired. He crashed onto his bed and rolled over to face her.

Temperance had to admit, he was quite good looking. She shook the thought from her mind, smiled and then tucked the photo away again.

'I am so bored,' Spence said. He sat down on Temperance's bed and she sat up. Alex hauled himself up and sat next to Temperance.

'Did you see that obstacle course? That will be hell to go through. Why don't they murder us now?' Temperance asked.

'That would be illegal. Well, I think making us go through it in the rain is illegal as well,' Spence answered.

'It stopped raining,' said Alex quietly. He dragged himself up and opened the curtain on the windows to show them. Alex sat back down again just as Mr Mills came through the door.

'Could Mathew and Glen please come with me? It's important,' Mr Mills said. He said it quietly and had a strange look on his face. Matt and Glen got up and followed him out, looking anxious.

Temperance turned to watch them go, making her hair move away from the cut on her head. It looked bad. It was swollen but the blood had dried.

'Does that hurt much?' Spence asked quietly.

Temperance looked confused for a moment, then, 'Oh, that, it doesn't really hurt unless I touch it.' She smiled to show that show was telling the truth.

'Why wouldn't you let me tell Wolf what really happened?' asked Alex. Temperance thought about her answer.

'What's the point? He would just get nasty and it wasn't like we didn't get him back.'

----- ----- -----

A while later, Alex, Spence and Temperance were still sitting on the bed. They had talked about their families.

Alex freely admitted he had no family left living and that Jack had been taken out of the country. He was surprisingly happy after saying it, as if getting a huge load off his shoulders.

Spence lived with his parents, baby sister and older sister. He had a large Labrador named 'Honey'. They all lived in a large house in London. Spence was home schooled when he wasn't at Military School.

Temperance changed house every Friday until her parents finally divorced. She was sent here because her mother didn't want her with her father, but she was an unsuitable parent. Temperance had no brothers or sisters but she had a cat named 'Pricilla' and a horse called 'Cher'.

Alex was not surprised to hear that Temperance didn't like her mother much. After what he had seen, he couldn't blame her.

'She was the one who wanted the press to know about my birth and the rest of my life. I had no say in it until I was ten. Dad was right in not letting me meet the press; you should see what they do to them. I've seen my parents be stalked – they can take photos from underwater; you get no privacy-'

Temperance stopped when she saw Mathew and Glen walk back in the door. They didn't say anything, but they had sad looks on their faces. They walked to their beds and pulled out their bags, packing things away.

'What's wrong?' asked Temperance, getting up and going over to them.

'Something...happened back home...we have to go...goodbye.' That was the only thing that came out of Glen's mouth. He turned and walked out. Mathew shrugged and walked after him.

----- ----- -----

**Author's Note: There it is! More coming quite soon! Review????**


	8. Do I Have To?

**Author's Note:**

**I am so sorry this took so long and that there isn't much of it, but most of the time, I had no idea what to write. Thanks for reviewing!**

----- ----- -----

It was time - time for the dreaded obstacle course. It had stopped raining but it was dark, terribly windy and muddy. Temperance was excited though. She was more active of a night and had a lot of energy waiting to be released.

Alex and Spence were equally full of energy. Temperance had shared some of her stock of lollies and they were taking effect. Of course, Temperance kept some for future energy bursts. They still didn't know why Mathew and Glen had to leave, but they were sure that they would find out soon.

When they finally arrived in the usual meeting spot, Mr Mills started counting heads as everyone else aimed not to step in the mud. He stopped then recounted before looking confusedly at the faces that were staring back at him from the dark.

'Where are Franklin and Timothy?' he asked. Everyone looked around, confused looks on their faces.

'Sir...' Hawk came running out of the dark, panting. 'Tim...Timothy and Fred...Franklin, whatever...they are back inside...' He took one last deep breath before straightening up. 'Timothy and Franklin are sick, sir. We think its food poisoning. They both said they ate one of Tim's chocolate, you know the one he brought back from Germany. Fox is taking them to the nearest town for treatment.'

Mr Mills and Hawk continued talking until Wolf, Eagle and Snake appeared. Mr Mills found a tree stump and stood on it.

'Well, it seems as though our group has been reduced quite considerably. We should probably rearrange teams now. And it's only our second day. That is a record. Alex and Tempy, because you one the last challenge, you get to choose the teams; I'll choose the leaders.'

Alex and Temperance put their heads together to choose teams. It wasn't that hard, really. Spence was pleading with his eyes and they couldn't let him down.

'We will have Spence,' Temperance announced. Aaron and Flynn weren't paying attention but Max just shrugged.

'Wolf and Hawk, you have Alex's group, Snake and Eagle, you have the rest.'

----- ----- -----

Alex, Spence and Temperance rubbed their hands together to stay warm. They were at the front of the group that was now walking towards the huge lights surrounding the obstacle course. The effect was magical.

'Wow...' Spence whispered.

'Snap!' said Temperance.

Alex just stared. They had to be kidding. It was huge! The first time Alex saw it, it must have been a fraction built because he swore it was never that size.

'Attention!' called Mr Mills. 'Here are some lengths of rope, hand them around...like that. Hands need to be tied together for four people. One person must attach themselves tho this rope and eventually, after you get through the obstacle course, end up with an _untwisted_ amount of rope. Got it?'

'No!' yelled Hawk.

'OK...' Mr Mills closed his eyes and sighed. 'One person will be attached to this hook. That person needs to follow the rope through the obstacle course. The other people in the team will need to have their hands tied together and will help the other attached to the rope...OK?'

Hawk nodded.

'Alright then, choose your team member to be attached.'

Hawk, Wolf, Spence, Alex and Temperance gathered together to choose their member.

'I vote Tempy,' said Spence. 'She can fit.'

'Here, here.'

'Me too.'

'Yeah.'

'Do I have to? It doesn't look too forgiving.'

'Sorry, but we are less likely to survive that!'

Temperance sighed.


	9. Bugger!

**Author's Note: OMG this took forever! I now have a grand total of four assignments due in the first half of next week (according to a 28-3-07 count)! **

**This is an extra long (...) chappie for you all!**

----- ----- -----

Chapter Nine

Temperance shivered. Not that she was cold, of course. She was just not looking forward to the obstacle course. She had attached herself to the rope and Alex, Spence, Wolf and Hawk were now tied together. Mr Mills had gone soft and allowed a few changes. Alex and Wolf had one hand each bound in what looked like a very restricting knot. Spence and Hawk were tied similarly, except they looked considerably more comfortable.

_Something's buggering Alex_, thought Temperance. He looked agitated and distant.

'Is Mills on drugs?' she whispered to Hawk. He smiled at her and was about to answer when Mr Mills himself called for attention.

'Because we all know how nice and warm and fuzzy I am, it will come to no surprise that I've changed the rules.

'The teams will go through this as planned, but then...yes, there is something else, Hawk – then, we will have a singles race.'

'Yeah, betcha he's on drugs!' whispered Hawk. 'And I swear he'd be mixing them!'

----- ----- -----

'On your marks...get set...GO!'

Temperance started at a slow jogging pace, it was only ten metres – it wasn't like she wouldn't make it! She stepped over a beam, under it again, over it one last time and repeated it another couple of times. The rest of the team just climbed over with ease.

Then they came to a five metre high wall. The wall had horizontal poles across it in odd patterns. She couldn't even reach the first pole to drag herself up on! She turned around to the others while the other team passed.

'Help, I'm too short,' she pleaded.

'We'll climb it, and then drag you up, one bit at a time,' Hawk said. She nodded.

Alex and Wolf climbed up to the second pole. Temperance was amazed at their synchronization – it was like they had practiced it many times together, and they did it so easily! They rested there while Hawk and Spence ungracefully climbed to the first one.

_He never was very graceful_, Temperance thought as she stared at Hawk. When they finally got up, Hawk leant down and reached for her hand. Temperance stretched her arm so that he had a good grip. She felt a tug in her arm and she was up. A few minutes later, they were all to the top.

There was a large net suspended from the wall to another similar wall. They could see the other team from here. They were across from them, stuck in the net. Alex and Wolf went ahead very quickly in their synchronized way while Hawk, Spence and Temperance casually climbed after them.

When they got to the opposite wall, the other team was no longer stuck but climbing down it. Temperance wasn't paying attention and she lost her hand hold on the wall. The dropped to the ground and landed commando-style safely.

'Did you see that? That was awesome – I've never done that before!' She yelled excitedly. She was disappointed when no one shared her enthusiasm.

Ahead of them was a maze only one and a half feet high. It was covered with a metal sheet and on the bottom of it was sand. Spence looked wary to go in and his face turned white.

'In there?' he asked.

'It's where Tempy's rope goes, at lest we will find our way through it,' Hawk pointed out.

'I don't like small spaces.'

'Close your eyes!' Spence looked wary.

Temperance went first. She pulled herself through by crawling on her elbows then heaving. It twisted around sharply and Temperance just had time to see the other team reach the maze. Her team crowded around the entrance so they couldn't get through.

At an exceptionally dark spot, Temperance felt a wall ahead of her. How was she supposed to get through? She followed the rope with her fingers and found a small hole where the rope went through. That didn't really help her.

'I can't get through,' she shouted to Hawk and Spence who were directly behind her, struggling with their hands tied together.

'What?' Hawk shouted back.

'I mean, there is a wall in front of me!'

'Push it!' Temperance pushed it. Nothing.

'Here, let me come up there.' Hawk and Spence shuffled up to where she was. It was quite awkward with three people pushed together. Hawk heaved along with Spence and the wall moved.

The light was quite blinding for a while. They saw the rope ahead of them. They didn't see the other team though, which was good.

'Finally,' Spence said.

'C'mon, keep going. Quick!' yelled Temperance, because, at that moment, the other team came through.

They ran forward down a hill then up another, higher one.

'Bugger!'

----- ----- -----

**Author's Note: Haha! Cliffhanger!**

**Sorry for the lateness. And the shortness!**


	10. Swim?

**Author's Note: I love the reviews I'm getting! Continue!**

**Also, I am really sorry this chapter took a while and it wasn't very much but I had to consider what you wanted in that message I sent out to all my readers.**

----- ----- -----

'Bugger!'

'What?!'

'Sorry! I didn't mean to shock you or anything.' Temperance replied to Spence. He was still on edge after the maze.

Wolf looked out over the water at the top of the hill. If there was ever too much rain, the river would overflow over the hill and into the large ditch, creating a swimming hole.

'Come on, Tempy. Your rope goes through here.' Wolf and the others started walking towards the water. Wolf turned his head when Temperance didn't follow. 'Come on, the other team are catching up. Look, there they go!'

'I can't swim!' Temperance said very quickly.

'What did you say?' Wolf said, turning around fully to face her.

'I said that I can't swim.'

'He knows what you said. Why can't you swim?' asked Spence.

'I guess my parents never got around to teaching me in their busy schedules.'

'But, don't supermodels and soccer stars get enough time off to book a swim instructor for their children?' Spence asked rather harshly.

'No, they apparently _don't_!' Temperance glared at him before sitting down in the mud and staring at the water. 'Go ahead, cross. I'll wait until I can grow wings and then I'll meet you there!'

'What if we drag you?' asked Hawk.

'Don't you dare!

'If we go first and find out how deep it is will you come?' asked Wolf.

Temperance just shrugged.

Hawk walked over to a nearby tree and pulled a branch off it. He walked a few metres into the water and pushed the branch into it. The branch kept sinking until it was far enough under the water to drench Hawk's arm. Hawk then pulled out the branch, dragged Temperance up and measured her against it. The tree branch went up to her waist but Hawks shoulder was above her head. She would have to swim, not walk.

'Are you afraid of drowning, or do you just not want to swim?' asked Alex.

'What?'

'Are you scared of the water, or do you think that, because you can't swim, there is no point trying?'

'I dunno. I _think_ I might be scared of the water.'

'Spence is afraid of small spaces, yet he went in. It's not like he's braver than you or anything.'

Spence punched Alex on the arm. Temperance took a few steps to the water and looked at it. After a little while, she slowly took another step in. 'Ew, it's all muddy on the bottom. My foot's stuck!'

Ever so slowly, they all stepped into the water and started crossing. Once the water came up to Temperance's neck, they started swimming. They swam slowly at first until she got the hang of swimming. Surprisingly, the other team were still in the water, looking for Max's glasses that he needed to see with.

'We don't have all day, you know!' Hawk shouted to Eagle. Eagle smiled sadly back and shrugged.

----- ----- -----

**Author's Note: This took me forever to submit! Was I the only one who got an error message every time I tried to submit a document?**


	11. NOTE

Author's Note:

I have decided to end this story until after my exams. I am finding it very hard to make time.

I assure you I will continue!


	12. ANNOUNCEMENT

This is a note to say that I've decided to write a new Alex Rider story.

It's called Innocence and it's about Alex when he chooses to go on an MI6 mission instead of being forced. It's written after Ark Angel, so if you haven't read that, I think I should warn you that I might accidentally let spoilers spill.

Please read it: Innocence!!!

Mufasa


	13. Guess What

**Guess what guys!!!!!**

**I'm rewriting this story so it will be bigger and better than before!!!**

**(period for applause)**

**Just hold on while I remember how to create a new story and it **_**should **_**be up in a few minutes.**

**Love youse!**


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